Throughout the ages there has been a never ending battle between man and fish, sometimes for necessary food, sometime for sport. A common advantage which man has gained in this battle is in the use of the barbed hook on a fishing line to catch fish. The hook is preferably provided with bait, natural or synthetic, to entice the fish to the hook and to bite it and thus become caught. The hook, bait and line together make up the tackle. Man has continually improved his advantage by designing more attractive and enticing bait or lures. It has recently been discovered, however, that many fish will not be readily attracted to the bait and caught by this technique due to the odor of the tackle. This applies to salt water fish as well as to fresh water fish. It has been determined that many fish will be repelled from the tackle if the smell of man is present or if an anticipated fish smell is not present on the tackle. Consequently, there has recently been developed a fluid which may be dispensed onto the tackle or lure to overcome this problem. The fluid is basically formulated from the oil of fish, preferably with preservatives or other additives. The fluid is merely dispensed in spray form from a pump cannister to provide the essence of fish and mask the human odor. The overall effect is a proven success with notably increased fishing efficiency.
Unfortunately, however, the presently available fish attracting fluid can only be applied by pumping the fluid in a spray form onto the lure. Such a technique is expensive and wasteful in that the majority of the sprayed fluid is lost to the atmosphere. Such technique also tends to coat the hands of the fisherman with such fluid which is generally considered to be of an odor unpleasant to humans.
The prior patents disclose many techniques for coating objects with a fluid or otherwise dispensing fluid onto or into an object but have not addressed the problem of dispensing fish attractants. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,914,377 to Bull, there is disclosed a method and apparatus for protecting articles by inhibiting corrosion through the use of balloons which intimately conform to the article being protected. In the patent to Martin, U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,118, a method is disclosed for sweetening or mellowing onions wherein the onions are placed in a pouch and liquid applied to the exterior of the pouch to then contact and coat the onions within the pouch. The Hessel patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,040,515, discloses apparatus for dispensing a chemical into a fluid through a porous matrix exhibiting capillary action. The apparatus is intended for use in air conditioners and the like. U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,240 to Cohen discloses a method of making a package having foam inserts, top and bottom, the foam being cut to provide opposed foam surfaces for contacting the article being packaged. Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,811 to Miller discloses a receptacle for containing and displaying food products. The products rest on a mat or mats of liquid absorbent material. As can be seen from the prior patents, there is no disclosure, teaching or suggestion of a method or apparatus for conveniently coating fishing tackle or lures using a fluid-containing box wherein the coating is complete and intimate upon the closing and opening of the box.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for applying fish attracting fluid to a fish lure.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for applying fish attracting fluid to a fish lure which minimizes fluid waste.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for coating fishing tackle with a fish attracting fluid without getting such fluid on the hands of the fisherman.